Chapter 3: The Pokemon Center

Nurse Joy had been sitting outside her Pokemon Center, talking to her Chansey. I guessed it was a slow day somewhere in the rear of my mind.

"My Pidgeot's hurt. We were flying and flew into something on accident," I explained, looking at Daniel for help. He nodded, looking glad I hadn't gone around mentioning invisible walls to a nurse. They'd lock me up in some sort of mental institute for sure.

"Chansey, we need a stretcher," Nurse Joy called to Chansey, who waddled inside.

"No need, Nurse Joy. Felicity, use Psychic to carefully move Cloud, please," Amanda instructed. Felicity's eyes glowed blue and Cloud rose up off the ground, floating a couple feet in the air slowly through the now open doors of the Pokemon Center.

"I'll need time with him. Please feel free to use anything in the lobby and kitchen," Nurse Joy told us before hurrying inside after Felicity and Cloud.

I sank to the ground. Zuko rested his head on my lap.

"Emma," Daniel said soothingly. "It's not your fault."

I tried to sniff quietly.

"You didn't know that there was something there. Cloud's going to be ok. We got here faster than humanly possible to get him fixed up. He'll be alright." Daniel knelt down next to me, trying to force me to look at him.

I refused to make eye contact. Zuko, however, glared at him and growled.

"Fine. We'll leave you two alone. Anthony, Amanda, let's go inside." He stood back up and rubbed Smoky's neck before recalling him. Anthony returned Fortis to his Poke Ball as well and they followed Daniel inside. Fenrir sniffed and touched his nose to my head before following in a sympathetic gesture.

I was outside alone with Zuko who grunted, shifting positions so that he could look me in the eye. He was worried.

"Yeah. I am too," I told him. My voice shook.

He nudged me a bit, his dark blue head bumping against my cheek to dry my tears. Zuko's eyes showed determination as he tried to get across from me that it wasn't my fault.

"It feels like my fault, though."

Zuko looked toward the Pokemon Center, then stood up, grabbing my arm with his mouth and pulling gently.

"Yeah, we should go inside. Nurse Joy might have news soon."

I rose out of the dirt, brushed myself off, and walked numbly through the doors. Zuko followed me on all fours, glancing around for the others who were seated on some plushy pillows in a circle.

"Hi," I said in a dead voice.

"We haven't heard anything about Cloud yet." Amanda's eyes were wide and scared. "Daniel told us what happened since Anthony and I were behind and didn't see. That must have been why Fenrir veered off so suddenly."

"You think so?" I asked, interested.

"Is that why you did that, Fenrir?" Amanda asked him directly. Fenrir nodded, lashing his tail impatiently, "He's very sensitive to what's going on around him. That's why it's so hard for him to focus sometimes."

"What are we going to do about the invisible whatever it is?" Daniel asked in a hushed voice. "I think we need to find out what it is and why it's there."

"What if it's something dangerous?" Anthony's eyes narrowed. "You know what happened just half an hour ago. We shouldn't repeat it."

"You're new to hanging out with us, Anthony. We get into trouble and get our hands dirty. You know that's always been my style," Daniel retorted.

"Stop arguing," Amanda said. They paused and looked at her. "Whatever that was, it's not natural. Maybe someone around here knows what it is. If anything, we need to ask if anything suspicious has happened around here recently. That's where we start. Ok?"

Anthony stared at her with an odd look before replying, "She's absolutely right."

I remained silent for once, too worried about Cloud to say anything. My attention decreased with time and all I focused on was the clock, feeling guilty every time the Pidgey flew out and cooed shrilly every fifteen minutes.

Memories of Cloud as a Pidgey and Pidgeotto played on repeat in my mind and I sighed, wishing that Cloud would be ok. Zuko, as if reading my thoughts, would nudge me as if trying to snap me out of my mood.

An hour later, Nurse Joy came out in the lobby. I stood up quickly, waiting with my mouth open, breathing rather quickly.

"Your Pidgeot has a broken wing. Besides that, he's perfectly fine and just needs rest. He won't be able to do anything for a couple of weeks until his wing is perfectly healed. He'll be back in the sky in no time." Nurse Joy smiled.

"Really?" I smiled back. "He's going to be ok?"

She nodded.

"Zuko, did you hear that? Cloud's going to be ok!" I hugged Zuko before my cheeks reddened. "Oh, I forgot my manners. Thank you so much, Nurse Joy."

"No problem," she chimed. "It's been awhile since I've seen Trainers that aren't from around here. It feels nice to help again."

"What do you mean you haven't seen any traveling trainers?" Anthony asked suddenly. "Lots of them should be coming through to battle the Gym Leader, especially with the Pokemon League so close to being held."

Nurse Joy frowned. "I know. I'm usually so busy that I'm here almost all night long. I don't know why everyone's disappeared."

She walked away with another nod. We all exchanged glances.

"I bet it had something to do with that invisible thing," Daniel muttered darkly.

The others turned their heads to me as if looking for some sort of agreement. I blanked. "Um, I guess so? Sure. You guys talk about it and I'm going to go ask Nurse Joy if I can see Cloud."

Zuko and I got up from the lounge area and went to go look for Nurse Joy. She was sitting at the front desk with Chansey and typing up some sort of report. Well, Chansey wasn't. Her arms weren't really made for computer typing.

"Nurse Joy?" I got her attention. She looked up and smiled while I continued, "Can I go see Cloud? I want to talk to him."

"Sure thing. He's in the first room down that hallway on the right." She pointed to some hospital-like doors.

"Thanks," I called behind me, already racing to go see Cloud and make sure he really was ok. Zuko followed on four legs close behind. We barreled through the doors and found the door she had indicated. I took a deep breath with my hand on the knob and opened it.

Cloud was perched on his large gurney as if he was sitting in a nest high in the trees. He seemed a little groggy, but alert. His right wing was against his body, seemingly wrapped in gauze.

"Oh, Cloud," I cried, running over and giving him a big, yet gentle, hug. He cooed reassuringly as I apologized over and over again. Zuko stood up on two legs to see Cloud better, smiling. I climbed up on the gurney on his good side so I could stroke his feathers, something he loved.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked Cloud. He shifted on his feet, looking over at his broken wing reproachfully. I knew he hated the news that he wouldn't be able to fly for a couple weeks. I didn't blame him- it was a blast and that's coming from someone who wasn't even born to fly. "Yeah. I get it. And yet again, I'm sorry."

Cloud huffed impatiently as if to say it wasn't my fault.

"You know, the others were talking about going back to where we crashed and figuring out what's going on. I'm kinda unsure. I don't want anyone else to get hurt, you know?" I watched Cloud roll his eyes. "Hey! I don't want anyone running into any more... things."

He pecked my head in annoyance at my unusual hesitation for attracting trouble and I pushed his beak away. "Fine, I'll go check it out. Maybe we can figure out what it was that we crashed into and get rid of it."

Cloud cooed in approval and settled his head against his chest, looking sleepy.

"Ok, we'll let you rest. Sleep tight and thanks for winning the race for us." I kissed his beak and Zuko and I tiptoed out of the room.

We searched the Pokemon Center for our friends to find them eating.

"How's Cloud doing, Em?" Daniel asked, looking up from his half-finished plate of pasta.

"He seems to be ok considering his wing is broken." I sat down next to him, feeling tired from the morning's drama yet content that my Pokemon was ok. "Thanks for asking."

Daniel waved his fork around in acknowledgement before stuffing it in his mouth. Anthony and Amanda ate pretty silently, exchanging meaningful glances at each other. I just had no idea what it meant.

"What's up, you two?" I asked.

"We were just wondering if you want to go back and investigate or not," Amanda answered.

Anthony cringed. "Can't we just stay out of trouble for once?"

"And risk missing out on an awesome time!?" Daniel grinned. "No way, Ant."

Anthony sighed. "Well, when are we going to do it, then?"

"Tomorrow sounds good to me. I'm pretty tired right now," I stated.

"I was thinking," Amanda leaned in closer, "Fenrir could probably figure out what's going on. Maybe the two of us can go check it out right now. You know how keen he is on having something to do."

"Yeah. Your Pokemon can't sit still for five seconds without freaking out. He knocked over a trashcan with his head and ended up wearing it as a hat a couple minutes ago. After that Nurse Joy made Amanda recall him." Daniel chuckled under his breath. Amanda frowned.

"If we're going to be breaking laws, we might as well do it all together," Anthony said firmly.

"Who said anything about breaking laws?" I blinked, surprised.

Daniel nodded. "That would probably be fun-"

"Ok, how about tonight we go and see what's up with the invisible thingy?" I almost shouted, trying to get everyone to focus. "Fenrir can lead the way, seeing as he probably knows what's going on better than any of us. We'll leave after dinner. Is that ok with everyone?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, followed by Daniel exclaiming, "Maybe we can all wear ski masks!"

Anthony groaned.

"What!? It is kind of chilly outside at night."

Hi guys!

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I'm pretty sure next chapter some old characters make appearances so stay tuned :)

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-Flips